


thrill of the ride

by dazedream



Category: CLAMP - Works, X/1999
Genre: Alternate Universe, CLAMP Femslash Fest, Carnival, F/F, Happy AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-20
Updated: 2013-10-20
Packaged: 2017-12-29 22:54:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1011079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dazedream/pseuds/dazedream
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yuzuriha and Satsuki go to a local carnival.</p>
            </blockquote>





	thrill of the ride

**Author's Note:**

> Oh god I haven't read X in forever so please forgive me if this is wildly OOC.
> 
> Submission for 'ice-cream sundae', the prompt for the CLAMP Femslash Fest Day Three.

The bright lights of the carnival, wheeling high in the sky above her and strung between the various booths that created makeshift streets in the park glinted off Satsuki’s glasses as she hurried towards her destination with her head held high and her shoulders hunched up to her ears. She clutched her bag to her chest as she ducked and weaved through the crowd, heading for their designated meeting place. Yuzuriha was waiting by – as her text message had said – the ‘third ice-cream stand from the entrance that’s opposite a fortune telling tent and next to a jewellery booth on the right and a House of Horror on the left’. She was bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet with her faithful canine companion, tongue lolling, sat at her ankles. She was, Satsuki noticed with abject horror, wearing a pair of furry black cat ears on a headband. The situation was not improved when Yuzuriha, noticing her approaching friend, shot at least a foot into the air with excitement, and starting waving both her arms over her head and yelling Satsuki’s name like Satsuki hadn’t already noticed the other girl standing by the stall. Inuki leapt up from where he had been laying down, his tail wagging and ears twitching in response to his master’s enthusiasm.

Satsuki moved hastily to stand next to girl and dog, and with just a few feet between them Inuki rushed to greet her, only prevented from leaping up in delight from the sheer force of Satsuki’s glare. He settled for running in circles around her feet, eyes alert, his nose trembling as he inhaled her familiar scent.

“Satsuki-chan!” Yuzuriha chirped, grinning brightly. “I didn’t know when you would get here, so I didn’t get you an ice-cream, and I didn’t want to get one without you here, do you want me to get you one now?”

“I said I would be here at seven,” Satsuki grumbled and went mostly ignored.  She reached into her bag for her wallet. “I can buy mys –” and was waved off by an energetic Yuzuriha, who was already bouncing up and down in front of the ice-cream seller. Defeated, Satsuki muttered “Vanilla, please.”

“How ma –”

“One scoop. No sprinkles or whatever.”

“Single scoop of plain vanilla, please!” Yuzuriha chirruped at the ice-cream man. “And I’ll have one of strawberry and one of chocolate, with…”

Satsuki tuned out of Yuzuriha placing her long order, and moved to stand next to her friend, accepting the ice-cream cone as it was held out to her by the man. Something cold and hard pressed against her bare leg, and she shifted and glared down at Inuki. The dog looked up at her with large innocent eyes that Satsuki didn’t believe one bit. She moved away from the dog about half a step, knowing it wouldn’t do anything to stop him.

The cold nose butted against her hand next, sniffing for treats. Satsuki removed her hand with a distinct scowl and was saved from having to do anything (she could never do anything, Yuzuriha loved her stupid mutt too much for Satsuki to _ever_ do anything – beyond thinking of ways to dispose of the dog and make it look like natural causes, of course) by Yuzuriha interrupting.

“Don’t bug Satsuki-chan, Inuki! We like her! And look, I got you an ice-cream, so there’s no need to fuss.”

“Don’t know why the dog always thinks I’m the one with food,” muttered Satsuki, wiping her hand primly on her shorts and taking a lick of her vanilla cone. “Wait, you got the dog an ice-cream?”

“I couldn’t _not_! He’d feel left out!” Yuzuriha insisted, setting it on the ground for Inuki. Satsuki knew that there was no point in explaining that animals couldn’t much conceive of ‘left out’, and that buying an ice-cream for the dog was a waste anyway, as he just swallowed it all in one gulp – as he had just admirably demonstrated. One of the things Yuzuriha was most stubborn about was her puppy, and she was unwavering in her affection to him.

“You spoil him,” Satsuki remarked, taking another lick of ice-cream. Yuzuriha pouted a little, but otherwise pretended not to hear her, instead crouching down to Inuki’s level and murmuring into one of silky ears (still at a perfectly audible level, though) something vaguely-insulting-but-not-really about Satsuki.

They walked away from the ice-cream van, moving further into the carnival. Sometimes they paused to get a closer look at this or that, but mostly they meandered around the booths and stands together, eating their ice-cream. Yuzuriha started taking pictures of the rides and games with her cell phone, darting away every so often to get a close-up of something, but she always came back to Satsuki swiftly. Inuki followed her to-ing and fro-ing, zigzagging through the crowds behind his master. Satsuki was content to wander; she finished the last of her ice-cream cone with a satisfied crunch. Sometimes when Yuzuriha reappeared she would chatter brightly for a few minutes before straying again, chatter that fell in with the rest of the background carnival noises, whooping and talking and calling after friends. It was comforting in a way, walking alone-but-not-quite-alone among the crowds of people. Yuzuriha occasionally called her over to see some miscellaneous item, but for the most part, she was alone with her thoughts, Satsuki’s preferred state of being.

“Satsuki-chan! Look!” The exclamation interrupted her train of thought, and she turned to see where it had come from. Once again, Yuzuriha was waving her arms above her head to get Satsuki’s attention. The main detail that marked this occasion as different from the previous was that this time Yuzuriha held an item in her hand that she presented to Satsuki with anticipation as the other girl approached. A vaguely sickened feeling filled the pit of her stomach.

“No,” she refused flatly, and turned her back to the other girl, fruitlessly trying to signal her complete disinterest in the subject.

“They’re silver, Satsuki-chan!”

Satsuki was still ignoring the existence of the abominations.

“They match your glasses!” Yuzuriha chattered on. Whether she was oblivious to Satsuki’s distaste or just completely untroubled, Satsuki did not know and didn’t particularly care to find out. She just wanted to be as far away from this situation as possible. Yuzuriha forged ahead with: “They’re even fluffier than mine!”

Satsuki was continuing to pretend none of this was happening, so she didn’t notice at first when Yuzuriha grabbed her by the shoulders and wheeled her around and placed the headband on Satsuki’s head. Satsuki jumped a little but Yuzuriha paid it little mind, humming a cheerful song to herself as she rearranged the cat ears in Satsuki’s hair, tousling the dark strands.

Satsuki ducked back self-consciously, brushing the loosened hair back behind her ears, and made sure the rest was still tied in a neat tail at the nape of her neck. She looked around for something to say, some refusal to convince Yuzuriha but instead made the mistake of glancing at the other accessories in the stall, and felt a small spark of relief shoot down her spine. At her cat ears weren’t sequinned. Or beaded or sparkly. And they were a reasonable colour, at the very least. Satsuki had never much minded silver.

She froze. She wasn’t actually rationalizing Yuzuriha’s madness, was she?

She _wasn’t_ , she decided firmly, a beat later. Yuzuriha just wasn’t _completely_ lacking in taste.

Satsuki plucked the headband from her head and laid it back down on the counter of the little kiosk. “The fluff itches,” she explained in monotone.

Yuzuriha slumped a little, the energy dissipating from her form. She looked disappointed, and Satsuki hated how it dragged her heart down to see that tiny frown on her lips.

“I like that one better,” she conceded, pointing randomly at one of the cat-eared headbands on the rack. Yuzuriha perked up immediately, standing up tall on her toes again, her usual beaming grin in place. She slipped one warm hand into Satsuki’s, and Satsuki gave it a tiny squeeze before letting go.

“This one, miss?” asked the man behind the counter.

“No, that one. The silver,” Satsuki corrected, picking out one of the plain, far more understated metal pairs. Yuzuriha clapped with delight, and paid for them eagerly despite Satsuki’s protestations.

“Yuzuriha, _honestly_ ,” she said, slinging her bag off her shoulder and groping for her wallet in the cramped front pocket.

“Satsuki-chan, I already said there’s no _ne_ – is that your laptop bag?” she asked incredulously, eyebrows stretching into her hairline.

“You know I don’t go anywhere without Beast.”

Yuzuriha giggled delightedly. “You’re _weird_ , Satsuki-chan!” She threw her arms around Satsuki’s middle. “But you know I love you anyway!”

She drew back before Satsuki could complain that people were staring, which was what she defaulted to when Yuzuriha started demonstrating physical affection.

“And anyway,” Yuzuriha was still talking. “Don’t worry about the ears, it’s not like I’ll be paying for everything tonight!” Dragging Satsuki off in the direction of the food vendors and arcades: “If it’ll make you feel better, buy me lemonade and cotton candy! And then you can waste your money trying to win me stuffed toys!”

Satsuki consented to buying whatever junk food caught Yuzuriha’s eye and called to her stomach despite her deep inner distrust of carnival food, and only put up a token protest when Yuzuriha pointed out this or that morsel that Inuki would like. She, of course, was gloriously victorious and won three toys for Yuzuriha in five tries at the first game, and Yuzuriha had to drag her away before she could upset any more of the storeholders with her acerbic comments and near pin-point accuracy.

Yuzuriha poked at Satsuki’s shoulder and pleaded for another ice-cream, her eyes huge and beseeching. Satsuki warned her she’d be sick, but all Yuzuriha said was: “I don’t care; I feel too good now to let it end early.” Yuzuriha might have been making a mild concession when she asked for a single scoop of mint ice-cream with no extra toppings or sauces. Inuki snuffled once at Satsuki’s ankles, and she huffed and produced an ice-cream for him with no further complaints.

“Satsuki-chan, thank you!” Yuzuriha said through a mouthful of ice-cream, and Inuki yipped his thanks (ice-cream of course long gone), nosing into Satsuki’s hand. Her forehead crinkled slightly in distaste, but she said nothing to discourage him.

“So cute!” Yuzuriha cried, beaming at them both. Satsuki removed her hand immediately. “What’s cute?” she asked.

“Oh, nothing,” Yuzuriha said breezily, “just you, Satsuki-chan. C’mere a minute, would you?”

Satsuki let the other girl drag her close so they were standing shoulder-to-shoulder, presuming the other girl meant to point something out to her. Yuzuriha slung an arm over her friends shoulder, adjusting her cat-ears with an impish gleam to her eyes as she brought her cell phone up to snap a picture of the two of them. Satsuki shrugged her arm off and leant away from her, looking faintly annoyed.

“I thought you promised no more pretentious selfies after that time in the park?” Yuzuriha is not paying her much attention, though, busy examining the photo with a disparaging eye.

“It’s a shame Inuki didn’t fit into the frame,” she said a little wistfully. “I did want one of all three of us, but I knew if I wanted you in a picture I’d have to go for the sneak-attack. The flash did something weird to your glasses – don’t worry, it doesn’t make you look demonic or anything, not like last time –”

“I don’t care,” Satsuki stated with forced calm.

“– which is a _real shame_ , because your eyes are really pretty!”

“What.” Satsuki was more thrown off track than anything (and her cheeks weren’t red at all, shut up), but Yuzuriha didn’t bother to elaborate.

“I just wanted a memory of today. Is that so bad, Satsuki-chan?” she entreated.

“Not really,” Satsuki allowed grudgingly. It’s not like it would be hard to hack Yuzuriha’s phone – she and Beast can do anything together – but she decided to let it lie this time. Unless of course the turned out like the one from the park did. Then, no mercy.

“Good!” Now she’d extracted reluctant consent Yuzuriha was entirely unrepentant. “Your cat ears look _adorable_! They’re so shiny! You made a really good choice with them!” Satsuki ‘hmmed’ noncommittally in response, and they continued like they had before.

The moon appeared low in the sky. The lights of the carnival seemed to have brightened even further in defiance of the long-gone sun, and the two girls meandered from stand to stand, filling their pockets with souvenirs and shiny trinkets and other little useless knick-knacks. Satsuki persuaded Yuzuriha against going on one of the rollercoasters, citing excessive consumption of sugary goods and that they would never be able to sneak Inuki onto the ride, and if they did manage to, he would likely throw up as well. Yuzuriha agreed, but only on the condition that Satsuki come with her on a ride of her choosing – she chose the Tunnel of Love, embarrassingly enough.

Which turned out weirdly okay, actually, after all it wasn’t terribly hard to let Yuzuriha cling to her arm as the creaky car rounded the dark corners and ‘romantic’ music floated from the ride’s ancient speakers. There hadn’t been enough room in the car for Inuki, so Yuzuriha had pulled out his lead (which Satsuki had no memory of her ever actually using, but she had to carry it around with her because of the law or something) and tied him to the railing outside the ride (with _another_ ice-cream, dear god) and made him promise to be good. Satsuki expected Yuzuriha to be too concerned about her dog to enjoy the ride, which Yuzuriha disproved by curling up next to Satsuki seemingly without a care and nuzzling into her shoulder as they crawled through the dark tunnel at a snail’s pace. Satsuki didn’t see what was so special about this ride; it was old and slow and boring, and the only thing the music was useful for was masking the giggles of other couples riding unseen in front of and behind them in the tunnels (to some extent).

They emerged at the end into the light. Satsuki straightened a little and Yuzuriha blinked at the sudden brightness, but didn’t move away from Satsuki. Judging by the grin and wink the burly man manning the ticket-booth gave them that Yuzuriha cheerfully returned Satsuki rather suspected that somewhere during the ride they had changed position from two girls sitting next to each other to something more resembling snuggling. They disembarked; Satsuki hopping out first and turning unconsciously to help Yuzuriha out of the rickety car. Somehow, they forgot to let go of each other’s hands until they saw Inuki, and then Yuzuriha dropped her hand and ran to unclip the leash and stash it back at the bottom of her bag.

The newly-released Inuki swarmed up around their legs; looking so pitiful that Yuzuriha dropped to her knees and threw her arms around his furry neck. He licked her hands and face eagerly, and she pulled away with a giggle. She stood up and Inuki turned to lap at Satsuki’s hand affectionately. Her nose wrinkled, but she bore it. At least it wasn’t her face. That, she would never tolerate.

Satsuki bought herself a hot dog from one of the vendors at Yuzuriha’s urging. It was surprisingly not-awful, though doubtless it was doing something horrible to her insides as she ate it, and despite his pleading eyes, the two girls both agreed that another ice-cream would be inadvisable for Inuki’s health.

They walked past a fortune-telling tent that Satsuki refused to go into. Declaring a penalty, Yuzuriha stole the hot dog and took a quick mouthful, handing it back to Satsuki as she chewed happily. Satsuki sighed and grasped her shoulder, stopping the other girl and turning her to face Satsuki in one movement. “You have ketchup on your face,” she said, shoving a paper napkin at the girl.

“Thanks, Satsuki-chan,” Yuzuriha said, wiping her face as directed. Satsuki found a bin to toss the soiled napkin into, but she had hardly started walking again when she was stopped by a hand on her arm. She turned to face Yuzuriha. “What?” she said, or had planned to say. She wasn’t sure how much of the word she got out before she was abruptly stilled by soft fingers brushing over the curve of her mouth. Lips tingling, she looked at her friend, who simply smiled innocently at her. There was an odd light to her friend’s eyes Satsuki had never seen before and she worried over it. Was Yuzuriha feverish? But no, it didn’t seem to be anything serious, as all Yuzuriha said, still with that strange glow to her eyes and a more familiar mischievous smile on her lips was, “You had a little sauce there, too.”

“…thanks,” she said roughly, still somewhat taken aback.

“Come on, then!” Yuzuriha laughed, poking her in the shoulder and dragging her off to see something else. Satsuki’s mind was still stuck on her strangely warm-feeling lips, and the brief gentle touch that had made them that way that she didn’t at first register when Yuzuriha took her hand again, practically bouncing with glee. “Please, Satsuki-chan?” the girl cajoled.

It was a carousel, a whimsical music-box song spiralling out from the speakers on repeat, people of all ages clinging to the horses and other themed seats (Satsuki spotted a dragon, a giant caterpillar and a fire truck to name but a few

“You go on if you like,” Satsuki told her, and held up a hand as if to fend off Yuzuriha’s pout. “Inuki can’t get on this one either, so I’ll stay with him and we’ll watch you.”

This seemed to appease Yuzuriha, as she darted off quick as anything to get the seat of her choosing. The ride started up again and the music swelled

It grew later and later, and they made plans to stick out at the carnival for a short while longer before catching a train home.

They ambled past a stall selling miscellaneous jewellery, with Inuki padding faithfully by Yuzuriha’s side. They walked close together, shoulders and hands brushing each time they took a step. Now and again Yuzuriha grabbed Satsuki’s hand for a few moments to lead her in this direction or that, to see this stand or the other, and it was on one of these occasions, the two girls holding hands loosely, that Yuzuriha saw something that made her hand tighten on Satsuki’s to the point of pain. Her entire body almost seemed to _vibrate_ with energy, and she tugged at the hand she was holding, turning to face her friend. She looked positively thrilled, her eyes and cheeks bright with delight. With the hand that wasn’t holding Satsuki’s (she hadn’t let go, for some reason) she pointed to something somewhere of to their left, all but jumping with joy.

“Look, Satsuki-chan! Look!” Satsuki looked, but as there were lots of things Yuzuriha would see as worthy of pointing out to her friend around them, she did not at first find what it was Yuzuriha was so enthusiastic for her to see. And then there it was, majestic and gleaming in the multi-coloured lights of the carnival, rising above all the other rides and attractions the carnival had to offer.

“A Ferris wheel!”

…should she really have expected anything else?

“We have to go on the Ferris wheel, Satsuki-chan! It’s the highlight of every carnival!” begged Yuzuriha.

“The queue’ll be ridiculously long,” Satsuki pointed out. “Like you said, it’s one of the most popular rides at carnivals.”

“Humour me?” the girl implored. “I’ll buy the tickets and everything. Last ride, yeah?”

Satsuki complied; there wasn’t much else she could do. They queued for a little longer than twenty minutes, which Satsuki abhorred, but Yuzuriha informed her they could have waited for longer and it would still have been considered a swift queue by carnival standards. Satsuki wondered why she had ever agreed to come to the carnival, with its dodgy food and lengthy queues and bought their tickets from a bored-looking teen a few years older than them. No one seemed to see the puppy following at Yuzuriha’s ankles, and Satsuki was pretty sure that no matter how well-trained Inuki was, dogs still weren’t allowed on the Ferris wheel – or any of the rides, actually – but he passed onto the ride with them unnoticed.

Yuzuriha sat down, Inuki curling into an impossibly small ball at her feet, and pressed her face to the glass excitedly. “We’ll be able to see over the entire carnival from the top,” she announced as Satsuki seated herself next to the other girl, laptop bag placed securely in her lap. They rose, stopping periodically so that people could be let out and climb in at the bottom. The lights of the carnival seemed to get brighter the higher they rose, though they blurred together and became indistinct. Yuzuriha was staring out of the window in awe, hands white-knuckled where they gripped the sill, her breath misting the glass surface. There was something burry about her as well, though. Satsuki frowned and took off her glasses, examining them critically. The lenses of her glasses were flecked with specks of dust from walking around the carnival earlier. She sighed, and rooted around in her bag for a tissue to wipe them clean. She replaced them on her nose just as the halted again, and looking out of the window on a whim noticed they were at the pinnacle of the Ferris wheel.

Yuzuriha’s fingers wrapped around her wrist, and Satsuki turned her head to see what her friend wanted. She was met halfway with Yuzuriha’s lips. They brushed against hers once, before pressing against them more firmly.

Her mouth was soft and pliant under Satsuki’s, and she tasted of all the ridiculously sugar-loaded sweet treats she had encouraged out of Satsuki in the past hour. Time seemed to slow, and Satsuki wondered if Yuzuriha would be upset over missing the view of the carnival. She could feel nothing but Yuzuriha’s mouth warm against her own, and the gentle hold the other girl’s fingers had on her wrist. They were (literally) in their own little bubble, aside from Inuki at their feet, but he seemed to understand that an interruption at this point would be far from welcome and remained silent and still.

Yuzuriha pulled back, looking embarrassed-but-pleased, her cheeks suffused with radiant delight.

Satsuki’s cheeks were flooded with heat and her eyes were wide and round like the moon in the sky above them. She pressed her lips tight together so they would not curve into the wide smile they wanted to, but Yuzuriha seemed to get what she had prevented herself from doing, and she squeezed Satsuki’s wrist lightly. Satsuki opened her mouth to say something, but found she had lost her voice. Even so, she had no words to address this – this rampant strangeness, this peculiar cosy heat in the pit of her stomach, this odd light-headedness

Yuzuriha didn’t look as if she needed to speak of what had happened, to Satsuki’s great relief. If she had been able to find the words, she was sure her voice would come out strained and cracking. Yuzuriha gazed out over the carnival, subdued elation shown in her bright eyes and rigid posture. It crackled through the air around them, stroking lightly against Satsuki’s bare skin – the air was cooling rapidly, she shivered and thought to herself she should have remembered to bring a jacket – but the gentleness of the perceived touch was no less effective for it; it felt like fine cobweb strands run through with zinging electricity.

They held hands and did not stop smiling all the way down.


End file.
